Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Allergic to cancer
Having an overactive immune system may protect against certain types of brain tumor, a study suggests.
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- Life
Running a cancer roadblock
A new study shows how cells escaping from a breast tumor overcome a piece of RNA that usually stops them.
- Humans
Running past Neandertals
Stone Age humans’ heel bones, more so than those of Neandertals, aided long-distance running.
- Health & Medicine
No flu vaccine link to Guillain-Barré syndrome found
A massive study of millions of people in China finds no association between receiving the 2009 H1N1 immunization and developing the rare nervous system disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Bioengineering better blood vessels
Durable conduits made with a tough protein produced by living cells might improve options for some patients who need heart bypass surgery or kidney dialysis, a new study finds.
- Psychology
Sometimes, happiness is for bozos
Despite its benefits, happiness and its pursuit has risks, as writer Bruce Bower describes in a humorous report from the recent meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
- Humans
Early cow’s milk consumption may cut breast-cancer risk
Research studies paint a muddy picture of milk’s malignant threat. Some have linked consumption of cow’s milk with a heightened breast-cancer risk. Others have suggested milk drinking might be protective. A new animal study suggests those data may not be quite as contradictory as they at first seemed.
- Humans
In tough economy, PhD appears to help
U.S. residents holding PhD’s in science, health and engineering were considerably more likely to be employed during late 2008 (the most recent period for which data are available) than were Americans generally, according to a just-released National Science Foundation report.
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- Humans
When meal times no longer focus on food
There’s little doubt that humanity has been tipping the scales at increasingly higher weights and rates. A study now lends support to the idea that meal-time distractions can mask the cues that we really have eaten quite enough. Moreover, it finds, the caloric fallout of not paying attention to what we’re eating doesn’t necessarily end when a meal is over.
